Paul of Tarsus was so ambitious and so energetic that had he been a business man he could have been the Bill Gates of his day. Although Jesus could have chosen to include Paul among the twelve men who would carry forth his work after his passing, he didn't. And what happened as soon as Jesus left the scene? If we are to believe Paul, Jesus appears to have discovered this mistake of his and made up for it by choosing Paul as the person to deliver the message of the Gpsel to the Gentile nations. This is in spite of the fact that Jesus had previously nominated Peter for that task in front of the other disciples.
Paul declared himself an apostle, however no one else ever addressed him as one. Jesus made it very clear there would be 12 apostles, and when Judas was dropped, he was replaced by Mathias to bring the number back to 12. In the Book of Revelation, there is a reference to the 12 apostles judging the nation of Israel. But if Paul is to believed, there are in fact 13, which begs the question, "who is the imposter?"
According to Paul's version of events, he wrote more, travelled more, and worked harder than all twelve of the original apostles put together. In spite of that, Paul didn't get along with the leaders of the church in Jerusalem and even ended up being put on trial by the church at Ephesus. This resulted in all the churches of Asia rejecting Paul and his teaching, however they remained faithful to Jesus and his teaching. This raises the vexing question: how could that be since churches today tells us that Paul and Jesus preached the same gospel?
Amazingly, the churches that rejected Paul and his teachings are the only churches to whom Jesus gave his revelation of things to come - the Book of Revelation. Not only that, in it he commends them for rejecting the one who called himself an apostle, but wasn't. Paul was never recognised by the other apostles as being one of them - Paul is the only person who refered to him as an apostle and is the only self-appointed apostle in the New Testament. Jesus declared the number of apostles as being 12 - include Paul and that makes 13.
Despite churches doggedly defending Paul and showering uncritical adulation on him, many independent-minded analysts of Jesus' teachings have found great cause to find fault with Paul. One of the most famous critcisms came from Thomas Jefferson, who wrote in a letter to James Smith, that "Paul was ... the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus." (Works, 1829 edition, vol. 4, p. 327.) The 2nd century Christian writer and historian Hippolytus said the same thing. George Bernard Shaw, the English playwright, is widely quoted as having said that: "...it would have been a better world if Paul had never been born." The biggest concern these great thinkers had with Paul is that the gospel Paul preached appeared to them to be far removed from the teachings of Jesus. If these critics are right, then the ramifications for the church and its followers, and for the standing of Paul's epistles as being the Word of God, are absolutely mind-blowing.
For many years I never questioned Paul or his doctrines. A few years ago when I came across a website that labelled Paul as a false prophet, I vigorously defended Paul in a series of emails to the webmaster. But as I researched my responses to the website's claims, I found myself standing on increasingly shaky ground. As a result, I made an open-minded examination of Paul's life and ministry. I also looked at the warnings Jesus and the Old Testament prophets made about false prophets and wolves in sheep's clothing to prove that it was not Paul they were talking about. Much to my surprise and horror, Paul seemed to fit the bill perfectly. This series of studies document my findings. I leave readers to draw their own conclusions.
After extensive delving into the history of the Chistrian Church of the 1st century, I have little doubt that Paul was the instrument to merge many aspects of Mithraism with Christianity, and that he attempted to overthrow the original church the apostles had built with his new gospel. The undercurrent of Paul's activities in this regard can be seen bubbling to the surface right throughout the New Testament for anyone who goes looking for it with an open mind.
The letters of Paul were the earliest of all the writings in the New Testament. The gospels, though placed first in the New Testament, all appear to have been written well after Paul had died, and did not begin to be circulated until after the nation of Israel had been obliterated and Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Romans in the Jewish Wars of the 60s. My personal belief is that the gospels were written to counteract the Pagan Mysteries doctrines that Paul had introduced into Christianity through his letters in the New Testament.
If we can throw off the traditional picture of Paul and look at the evidence with an open mind, it is clear to see that Paul's letters show distinct Gnostic and Pagan influences. Paul was a Jew who had embraced the ubiquitous Greek culture of the times. He wrrote in Greek, his first language. He quoted only from the Greek version of the Old Testament. His ministry was to Pagan cities dominated by Greek culture - Antioch, Ephesus and Corinth were all centres for the Religions of Mysteries. Paul's mother tongue was Greek, and Paul uses only the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, which is why he often misquotes the Old Testament, and in so doing often brings his readers to a wrong conclusions.
Paul was a native of the Hellenistic city Tarsus in Cilicia in Asia Minor, which was an old seaport with a long history of Pagan worship. By Paul's time it had surpassed even Athens and Alexandria to become the major centre of Pagan philosophy, and it was here, during Paul's youth, that Mithraism took shape. The Greek geographer Strabo writes: "The people of Tarsus have devoted themselves so eagerly, not only to philosophy, but also to the whole round of education in general, that they have surpassed Athens, Alexandria, or any other place that can be named where have been schools and lectures of philosophers." Athenodorus of Tarsus became a tutor to Emperor Augustus. Athenodorus was in turn a disciple of Posidonius, arguably the greatest philosopher of the first century BCE.
All of the astronomical and astrological knowledge acquired by the Tarsian intellectuals, particularly the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes by Hipparchus, who worked at nearby Rhodes, made a major contribution to the doctrines of Mithraism. It was into this city that Paul was born, at a time when Tarsus was at the height of its power and influence. In 1989 Mithraic scholar David Ulansey wrote a book, The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries, in which he convincingly shows that Mithraism originated in the city of Tarsus.
Why are many doctrinal principles Paul espoused regarding sin, salvation, faith, death, heaven and the very nature of God, even the names he uses for those in office within the Church, lifted straight from the major cult religions of the first century?
Paul And Mithraism
Paul quoted all the Greek philosophers of his day, but never once did Paul ever quote Jesus. Why?
Paul And Greek Philosophy
Jesus and two Old Testament Prophts warn of a wolf in sheep's clothing. Who fits the description?
The Ravening Wolf
A study on Jesus' Parable of the Wheat and Tares that warns of false doctine being introduced into the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Parable of the Tares
What is leaven, how did it get planted into the Kingdom of Heaven; where, when, and by whom?
The Parable of the Leaven
On the question of what it takes for mortal humans to enter heaven after death, the modern evangelical church teaches that Jesus Christ died for our sins in an act of atonement, a belief based primarily on the teachings of the Apostle Paul in his letters to the churches of his time that have been preserved as part of the New Testament. This study examines the ins and out of this doctrine.
Atonement For Sin
Did Paul and Jesus preach the same Gospel of Salvation? The church tells us they did, but the New Testament seems to tell a different story.
Salvation: By Faith or Works?
The Book of Revelation contains a commendation for the Church at Ephesus for having "tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and have found them liars." Who this person was is not stated, but all the evidence points to it being Paul, who wrote the greater part of the New Testament. This study looks at the background behind this trial, and examines the book of the New Testament that appears to have been written as the "Case for the Proscecution" in the trial.
The Trial of Paul
In the letter to the church at Ephesus in the Book of Revelation, Jesus said, "And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars." Revelation 2:2. Was this a reference to Paul? We examine the evidence.
Was Paul A Liar?
A theory on how and why Paul might have merged the story of Jesus with that of Mithraism to create what we know today as the Christian faith.
Paul and Mithraism: A Likely Scenario
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